: I’m interested in the Vietnam War, so after Denis Johnson’s book, “Tree of Smoke” won the National Book Award, I had to read it. What a disappointment. The book is totally boring, overly long, and it lacks any passion or plot (read the review at the Atlantic Monthly). Then, last year, another book about the Vietnam War came out, “My Vietnam War,” by E.E. “doc” Murdock. What a difference: the story is powerfully told and totally engrossing from the first page to the last. Truly a great book. Read them both and decide for yourself: which one of these books about the Vietnam War should have won the National Book Award.

What about the latest Pulitzer winner, another book about war, Anthony Doerr's "All the Light We Cannot See."